


The Selfish Path

by Sarcxstic_Stilinski



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-29 02:59:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18769816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcxstic_Stilinski/pseuds/Sarcxstic_Stilinski
Summary: I bit my lip. “I don’t think that’s a good decision.”“Who cares if it’s a good decision. Stay. Take the selfish path.”ENDGAME SPOILERS





	The Selfish Path

Losing Loki was something inevitable. A trickster god could only get himself out of so much, and that proved true the day Thor returned back to Earth without his brother by his side. Of course, I didn’t believe him at first. Who would? Loki had died about hundreds of times before. I had almost become numb to the thought that he would truly die.

But, as the days dragged on and on, I knew it was true. He was dead, and this time, it was real. He had survived torture and battles that any normal person would have died from, but someone simply snapping his neck? Of all the ways to go, that had to be it?  

Not to mention that only a few days after losing him, I lost practically everyone I knew. I lost the love of my life and some of the only family I’ve known. Five years had passed before we thought we could do anything, and now I was stuck going back in time to try and save the world when all I wanted to do was lay in my bed and wallow some more.  

We landed in a heap on each other, all of a bit out of breath. Going back in time wasn’t an easy thing. “Okay,” I repeated to myself and the two beside me, “Find Jane. Get the Aether. Find Jane. Get the Aether.” I repeated the five words to myself again and again, trying to will myself to focus. After a quick look around, it seemed that Thor had led us into the dungeons and right past-

Loki.

I inhaled sharply as Thor and Rocket snuck past Loki’s cell door. There he was. Right there. He was laying on his bed, throwing an object up in the air and catching it easily. I bit my lip as tears gathered in my eyes.  

“Lily,” I heard Rocket hiss at me. “Lily, come on!”

I waved him off with my hand. “I’ll catch up with you later. I-” I cut myself off as a loud sob racked my body. “I’ll catch up with you.”

“We can’t leave you.”

“Yes, you can, Rocket. Go take care of Thor.” My voice was wavering, and when I turned to him, tears were running down my face. “Just give me a few minutes, please. A few minutes is all I’m asking.”

Rocket huffed but nodded and turned to run after Thor before pausing. “Lily, if you decide to stay in this timeline, know that we’ll understand. We can take care of everything.”

“Thank you, Rocket, but I’ll find another way to get to him.”

“Stay safe. See ya soon.”

I turned back to Loki to see him looking at me, his face contorted into a curious look. Gods, how I missed that look. He caught the object one more time before sitting up in his bed. “Hello,” he drawled out.    
“And who might you be?”

I paused before responding. “No one you would know.” My voice cracked half-way through, and I choked back another song, quickly wiping my hand across my face to try and stop the tears falling down my face.  

“Are you okay?” He stood, approaching the clear wall between us.

I nodded quickly and ran my face across my face once again. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Completely fine.”

From a quick glance upward, I could see Loki looking down at me with raised eyebrows and his jaw clenched. “You don’t look very fine. Are you sure we don’t know each other? You look familiar. Like a memory from a very long time ago.”

I sniffled and chuckled a bit. “Try the other way. Future.”

He grinned a mischievous grin and leaned forward a bit. “Really? When do I know you?”

“Not too long from now.” I had befriended Loki when he was disguised as Odin, and he had revealed to me who he was only a year into his hiding. It was the strangest thing being friends with the Trickster god, and it was even stranger being his lover.  

“I’m guessing I mean a lot from you if that crying is anything to go by.”  

I bit my lip and nodded quickly, my hand fiddling with the ring on my finger, a silver and green band engagement ring. “Yeah, you were a lot to me.” I paused and let out a sigh. “Still are. I think you always will be.”

I could practically feel Loki’s eyes on my hand. “What were we? Were we?”

I nodded, blinking back more tears. “Yeah, yeah. We were gonna get married in 2019, and then, then-” I sobbed once more. “Then, you died, and I haven’t seen you in years. It’s like I was drowning, but seeing you here, now. Well, now I can breathe. But I can’t stay.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s not how this works. I have to go back. I have to help them. I have to- I have to-” I shook my head quickly, willing myself to stop crying. “I don’t want to go back.” I covered my face with my hands. “I don’t want to go back when you’re right here. I’m so weak, but I don’t want to leave.” I looked at him through blurry vision. One of his hands was hovering a bit away from the laser wall as he looked at me with eyes of pity. “And I know you don’t know me yet, but when we were together, it was everything I could’ve imagined. Together, we were unstoppable, and when I let you go with your brother for what was supposed to be a simple mission, I lost you. In my life, I’ve never felt that pain I felt when you were gone. I never even got to say ‘I love you’ one last time.”

A prisoner in one of the cells started banging on his walls, and I bit my lip, knowing I had to make a decision. “Stay. Tell me everything you wanted to say. Help me here. We’ll find a way to get rid of the you on this timeline. You can stay with me.”

I bit my lip. “I don’t think that’s a good decision.”

“Who cares if it’s a good decision. Stay. Take the selfish path.”

The monster beat down the wall completely, and I watched as he freed other prisoners and made his way toward Loki’s cell.  

“He won’t hurt you,” Loki mumbled, watching him as I did.  

“I trust you.” The monster passed by and went up the stairs, and Loki let out a quiet breath.

“Now, let’s find a way to get me out of here.


End file.
